Agnes Mongan (January 21, 1905 – September 15, 1996) was an American

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, who served as a curator and director for the

Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

Career

Mongan received her B.A. in 1927 from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

with a degree

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. She subsequently attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, where she studied

Italian art Since ancient times, Greeks, Etruscans and Celts have inhabited the south, centre and north of the Italian peninsula respectively. The very numerous rock drawings in Valcamonica are as old as 8,000 BC, and there are rich remains of Etruscan ar ...

and received her A.M. in 1929. Following a short internship at the

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

in 1928, she was hired as a research assistant for associate director Paul J. Sachs, where she remained until 1937. From 1937 to 1947, she was promoted to new a position titled "Keeper of Drawings," since women were not allowed to be named curators. In 1947, she became Curator of Drawings following the acceptance of women as curators, a position she held until her retirement in 1975. Along with

Adelyn Dohme Breeskin Adelyn Dohme Breeskin (1896–1986) was an American curator, museum director, and art historian known for her longtime leadership of the Baltimore Museum of Art and Mary Cassatt scholarship. Biography Adelyn Dohme was born in 1896 in Baltimore t ...

from

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, she was one of the first female curators at a major art museum in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. From 1951 to 1964, she also held the position of assistant director, from 1964 to 1968 associate director, and from 1968 to 1969 acting director, and from 1969 to 1971 Director. She was the first woman to direct a major art museum in the United States. In addition to lecturing at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, she also taught courses at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. She also became acting director of the

Timken Museum of Art The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum, established in 1965 and located at 1500 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art. History The groundwork for the museum was laid in 1951 when Walter ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, for a period. In 1953, she received an honorary degree from Wheaton College. In 1972,

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

drew her caricature, which is now part of the Fogg collection. She was honored by the Harvard Art Museums in 1994 when the Agnes Mongan Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs opened at the Fogg, which was designed by Samuel Anderson Architects. After her retirement in 1975, she remained as an emeritus curator for the Fogg and continued to produce exhibitions and related catalogues.

Works

*''Harvard Honors Lafayette'', 1975, *''David to Corot: French Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum'', 1996,

Honors

* Fellow of the American Academy in Rome (2): 1950-51 *Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

: 1953 *

Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award The Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award was established under the presidency of Lee Ann Miller (1978–80). Joan Mondale, artist and wife of vice-president Walter Mondale, helped to secure approval for a national award honoring women ...

: 1987

References

External links

Profile
at Dictionary of Art Historians {{DEFAULTSORT:Mongan, Agnes 1905 births 1996 deaths American art historians Directors of museums in the United States Women museum directors Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Writers from Somerville, Massachusetts Bryn Mawr College alumni Smith College alumni Harvard University faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty 20th-century American historians Women art historians Historians from Massachusetts 20th-century American women writers American women historians American women curators American curators